blog

Lessons from painting the kitchen

Yesterday I finished putting the second coat of paint on my kitchen walls. It looks quite nice, and I marvel that I didn't do it sooner. I painted the first coat back in 2008 just before we moved into our current home. Then life got busy, I gave birth to our third child, life got busier, and here we are five years later.

The walls are a light shade of yellow, and they really did not look bad with just one coat. I was probably the only person who noticed the need for a second coat. Now that it's done, I'm probably the only one who will really notice the improvement. And yet, it makes me happy. It is completed.

I checked â€śpaint the kitchenâ€ť off my to-do list yesterday after having it there for five years. It makes me happy not only because it is finished, but also because it demonstrates there is hope. Life can get busy and we may have to put some things on hold. There are seasons in life... a time to paint, a time to do other things. I often feel I cannot do everything I want to do in the span of a day. But I can come back to most things later, and it will be just fine.

Painting the kitchen also reminds me of the importance of proper priorities. The important things to tend to are the ones that could run off. My kitchen walls were not going anywhere. They were not changing colors, getting into any kind of mischief, or relying on me for anything.

I cannot, however, presume my family will sit quietly for long periods of time, waiting for me to get to them. Not because they are unreliable, but because relationships need regular attention and care. The walls can wait, but our children and loved ones cannot. They are what's truly important after all. We dare not set them aside for another day or we may turn around only to find them gone.